The present invention relates to reciprocating presses in general, and more particularly to improvements in presses which can be used for compacting and controlled evacuation of sludge from a hopper or an analogous receptacle for solid, semisolid and/or liquid material.
Compacted waste (e.g., household or industrial garbage or partially processed sewage) is normally fed into a furnace wherein the waste material is combusted and/or evaporated. Such material often contains rocks, stones, particles of metal or glass and/or other solid ingredients which are surrounded by slush, such as sediments deposited during treatment of sewage. In accordance with the presently prevailing practice, waste material of the just described character is packed into sacks which are dumped into the furnace. It is also known to employ chain conveyors for transport of waste into an incinerator furnace or the like. The interior of the furnace is heated (either by oil or by gas) to a temperature at which at least some ingredients of the waste are combusted or evaporated. The just described methods of feeding waste to furnaces of incinerators are time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, the admission of discrete batches of waste often causes explosions in the interior of the furnace with resulting damage to or complete destruction of the incinerator plant.